Saturday 20 October 2012

Tiny Critter Hitchhiked on Mayflies, Fossil Reveals


Creatures about the size of a grain of salt could apparently ride winged insects by using prehensile antennas, researchers say.
This discovery, based on fossils trapped in amber, suggest the descendants of these microscopic beasts might still hitchhike flights today to spread around the globe, scientists added.
Investigators analyzed 16-million-year-old chunks of amber unearthed by amber miners in the Dominican Republic in 2008. Amber is fossilized tree resin, and before it hardened, this ooze often dripped over bugs and other wildlife perched on its tree's bark, entombing them for up to more than 200 million years.

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